Jharkhand''s Kumar Kushagra slams double-ton against Baroda in Ranji Trophy

Vadodara, Nov 9 (PTI) Young wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra completed a brilliant double century as Jharkhand scored a mammoth 500-plus score and struck early blows to put Baroda on the mat, in their Ranji Trophy Group A match here on Sunday.

Playing in his 29th first-class match, the 21-year-old Kushagra who was bought by Delhi Capitals ahead of IPL 2024 for an eye-popping Rs 7.2 crore before he moved to Gujarat Titans in for IPL 2025, struck 234 off 367 balls as Jharkhand were bowled out for 506 in 140 overs on day 2 of the match.

Jharkhand right-arm pacer Sahil Raj (2/15) then reduced Baroda to 78 for three as the table-toppers tightened their grip on the opponents.

Jharkhand, who were 327 for five on day one, made the Baroda bowlers toil with overnight batter Kushagra, who had scored 133 on Day One, completing a double ton and sharing a 118-run partnership with Sahil Raj (39) for the seventh wicket.

Kushagra was unlucky to miss out on his career-best first-class score of 266 as he was dismissed by Bhargav Bhatt. Kushagra smashed 23 boundaries and four sixes during his nearly two-day long stay at the crease.

His dismissal saw the Jharkhand tail add just seven runs before their innings came to an end.

Baroda suffered an early jolt with Sahil dismissing Jyotsnil Singh for a first-ball duck before he had Sukrit Pandey for 6. With opener Shivalik Sharma too departing on 23, Baroda were precariously placed at 35 for 3.

However, Shashwat Rawat (20 not out) and Vishnu Solanki (28 not out) batted out the remaining overs with some gritty play. Baroda are trailing Jharkhand by 428 runs.

Brief Scores: In Vadodara: Jharkhand 506 all out in 140 overs (Kumar Kushagra 234, Virat Singh 46, Robin Minz 79; Mahesh Pithiya 3/156, Rasikh Dar Salam 2/83, Bhargav Bhatt 3/123) vs Baroda 78 for 3 in 31 overs (Sahil Raj 2/15).

In Kanpur: Uttar Pradesh 535 for 6 decl in 138.4 overs (Abhishek Goswami 55, Madhav Kaushik 185, Aryan Juyal 140, Shivam Mavi 101 not out; Rongsen Jonathan 4/150) vs Nagaland 77 for 4 in 26 overs (Dega Nischal 42; Shivam Mavi 2/17).

In Nagpur: Vidarbha 286 all out in 118.4 overs (Dhruv Shorey 144, Ravikumar Samarth 49; Sambit Baral 3/69, Rajesh Mohanty 2/57) vs Odisha 122 for 6 in 58.2 overs (Subhranshu Senapati 41; Gaurav Farde 2/20).

In Visakhapatnam: Tamil Nadu 182 & 102 for 3 in 29 overs (Balasubramaniam Sachin 51) vs Andhra 177 in 49 overs (Shaik Rasheed 87 not out; Sandeep Warrier 4/53, Trilok Nag 2/50, Sai Kishore 2/38). PTI AM AM DDV